Rest (3)
"Can you pretend to shower for a bit?" I asked Cheon Hayeon casually as I pulled on my shirt. She glanced down at my lower body before nodding without hesitation.
"I suppose I should clean myself a little."
"Sorry. Looks like you just showered."
"It's fine."
Cheon Hayeon smiled softly, the corners of her mouth curving upward with gentle grace.
After confirming she'd entered the bathroom, I opened the door.
"What's going on?"
"...Something smells fishy."
Han Yeoreum stared at me with narrowed eyes for a moment, then grumbled.
"What's fishy about it?"
"I can smell it. There's a scent. What were you doing?"
"I was circulating my energy. Had something I needed to check."
"Huh, for real? Where's Cheon Hayeon?"
Han Yeoreum stepped inside and scanned the room in every direction.
"I think she's in the bathroom. She wasn't here when I opened my eyes."
The words flowed out like a mountain stream the moment I sensed danger. Better than being misunderstood for no reason.
Shaaa— The sound of running water echoed from inside the bathroom.
"She's actually showering. You weren't planning to do anything after she got clean, were you?"
"Can you do something about that perverted brain of yours? As if we'd do anything."
"That was a joke, you know."
Joke my ass. The way her eyes were brimming with intensity, it didn't look like a joke at all.
"Anyway, what did you come here for?"
"Oh, right. Professor Cheongha was looking for you. I ran into her a minute ago. She wants us to head down."
"You're coming too?"
"Yeah. Me too."
"Give me a second. Let me change clothes."
"Mmmkay."
I quickly changed into my uniform, spoke briefly to Cheon Hayeon, then headed downstairs.
It was probably something related to Shin Ari. It was a little surprising that she'd called Han Yeoreum along as well, but maybe this was a form of consideration.
"Welcome."
As we drew closer, Professor Cheongha—her hair adorned with a plum blossom ornament and dressed in flowing palace robes—offered a quiet smile. Seeing her dressed up like this gave off an entirely different impression.
"Are we going to see the Divine Doctor?"
"Yes. It's rather sudden, but is that all right?"
"It doesn't matter."
After all, time was the one thing I had in abundance. Perhaps because of the aftermath of the incident, the academy had granted the cadets quite a lot of free time.
The Cheonsu Clinic. A multinational medical institution with the Heavenly Waters Divine Doctor as its director. Their specialty was treating martial artists. From the perspective of someone who had been a firm believer in modern medicine, this kind of Eastern medicine would have been an object of distrust in reality. But having already experienced the mysteries of the East with my own body, the situation here was the complete opposite. It wasn't an object of distrust, but a symbol of trust.
True to its nature as a multinational medical organization, the Cheonsu Clinic had branches everywhere, and Okinawa was one of them. What unfolded before my eyes wasn't the classical Eastern-style manor I'd imagined, but a place filled with thoroughly modern buildings. To put it bluntly, it wasn't much different from a university hospital or general hospital. Doctors in white coats were bustling about, and there were even ambulances. It felt like my fantasies had shattered completely.
Well, these days even Korean medicine hospitals have this kind of atmosphere.
We headed toward a separate annex that had been prepared for us.
"It really does look like a regular hospital."
Han Yeoreum seemed to share my impression as she looked around.
"It also functions as a tertiary hospital in practice. Treating only martial artists wouldn't be sustainable otherwise."
Professor Cheongha explained in a low voice. My knowledge had expanded. A tertiary hospital named after a clinic. As expected of the mysteries of the East—it was already far from ordinary.
After waiting inside, Professor Cheongha, who had gone in alone, came back out.
"Cadet Kim Mugong, you may enter first."
"That way?"
"Yes."
I walked down the straight corridor until I reached an incredibly spacious examination room. Inside, an old man with sharp, piercing eyes stared at me intently. It felt like he was trying to see through everything about me.
He's a master.
At least Super Peak. Probably exactly at the Transformation Realm.
The old man, dressed in spotless white robes without a single speck of dust, rose from his chair.
"Hello. I'm Kim Mugong, a first-year cadet at Jungwon Martial Arts Academy." I greeted him respectfully with a cupped-fist salute. Seeing that he had no assistants, he had to be the Heavenly Waters Divine Doctor himself.
"I already know who you are, so the greeting is unnecessary. Come here and lie down. Remove your upper garments."
The Divine Doctor gestured toward the examination table with his chin. I obediently took off my top and lay down.
"Extreme Yang Body, is it?"
"Yes."
"I will take your pulse, so do not resist."
The Divine Doctor took my wrist and sent his energy flowing through me. It was similar to what Cheon Hayeon had done, but this felt much more comfortable. Perhaps it was simply the nature of his martial arts. Moreover, the speed at which he examined my internal condition was remarkably fast.
Once again, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art tried to run wild, but I gathered my energy in my dantian and forcibly sealed it away. I kept my eyes closed and waited for a long time until the Divine Doctor finally withdrew the energy he had sent in.
"...."
Then, after staring at me intently for a while, the Divine Doctor let out a deep sigh.
"Shall I speak honestly?"
"Please do."
"Kid, it's going to be difficult for you to live long. The injuries you suffered this time have mostly healed, but that's not the problem."
"Is it because of the Extreme Yang Body?"
I'd just been told I was essentially on a time limit, yet my mind was calmer than I'd expected. Was it because I'd already prepared myself? Or was it due to the Righteous Will trait?
"If it were simply the Extreme Yang Body, it would be manageable. From what I see, you have someone with the Extreme Yin Body staying close to you. Dual cultivation, I presume?"
"...Yes."
It was a rather embarrassing topic, but since the other party was one of the greatest doctors in the world, honesty seemed best.
"You must know that the human body has upper, middle, and lower dantians."
"I do."
The upper dantian is the brain, the middle is the heart, and the lower is around the navel.
"They can be seen as vessels. More precisely, as bottles. If you keep forcing something in even after the capacity is exceeded, cracks and breakage are inevitable."
"I'm releasing as much Yang energy as possible."
"This isn't about Yang energy. I don't know what exactly you've learned, but your lower dantian is already nearing its limit trying to contain the massive Yang energy of the Extreme Yang Body. There's something near your Baihui point as well. And your middle dantian too. This is the first time I've seen someone carrying so many things inside one body."
Near the Baihui point... There were a few possibilities, but Martial Soul seemed the most likely. Or perhaps one of my traits. I hadn't expected him to be able to detect even the domain of traits. The middle dantian was obviously the Fire Demon Core.
"In a way, being born with the Extreme Yang Body was a stroke of heavenly luck for you. To endure such vast Yang energy, your blood vessels and body had to be exceptionally strong. If you'd had an ordinary body, you would have been in danger long ago."
"I'm not sure I understand. When I observed my internal condition, there didn't seem to be any problems."
"It wouldn't be visible yet. Don't try to push it down."
The Divine Doctor brought out a set of acupuncture needles from behind him. With a light gesture, golden needles flew through the air and embedded themselves densely across my body. It was a technique using empty-space object manipulation. Some of the needles were frighteningly deep, yet I felt no pain.
"From now on, guide your energy along the paths I describe. Concentrate. Keep your mouth closed and there's no need to answer. Qihai, Huiyin, Weilu, Mingmen, Xiaji..."
Like performing the Small Heavenly Circulation, I circulated my energy exactly as the Divine Doctor instructed. I continued rotating my energy in a near-trance state for a long time until, at some point, a faint pain began to emerge. As the pain gradually intensified, my face naturally contorted.
"You're doing well. Observe the energy pathways with the feeling of watching from the outside."
Crack—
For a moment, it felt like sparks of lightning had burst forth.
"Stop!"
I immediately ceased guiding the energy. The golden needles flew back through the air and returned to their container. The pain vanished as if it had never been there.
"Did you see it?"
"...Yes. I saw it."
What I'd seen at the end was my body covered in countless tiny cracks.
"The Latent Spirit Golden Needle Grand Technique I just used has no side effects, so don't worry. I simply showed you your body's condition in a slightly easier-to-understand way."
"Understood."
"As you saw for yourself, your body is in a state similar to one after triggering latent power several times."
Triggering latent power. Something suddenly occurred to me.
"I've frequently used power beyond my realm. Could that have an effect?"
"It doesn't seem to be the Absorption Great Technique. I won't ask what it is. Of course it has an effect."
The Righteous Will Path and the Unicorn Divine Art. There really was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Even while using them, I'd had my doubts. They strengthened a body that would normally only be second-rate—excluding internal energy—to near the Transformation Realm. Was it possible to wield such immense power without any backlash? Was it truly power without a price?
The answer was right before my eyes now.
I'd come to deal with the Fire Demon Core, but this was an unexpected bombshell. The problem was that those powers didn't activate according to my 'will.' And in the situations where they'd been necessary so far, I would have died if I hadn't used them. I wasn't even in a position to complain.
"For the time being, continuing similar actions won't cause problems. As I said earlier, it's thanks to the robust physical capabilities of the Extreme Yang Body. However, this is a time bomb. It means problems could arise at any moment."
I had no idea how many time bombs I was carrying in my body. At this point, I couldn't even sigh.
"Is there a solution?"
"You said you've frequently used power beyond your realm? For side effects like this to appear, it must not have been ordinary power. You must have handled power that you should 'absolutely' not be able to wield at your current realm. Am I correct?"
"Yes. That's exactly right."
He hadn't earned the title of Divine Doctor for nothing. He had pinpointed it perfectly without me saying a word about either the Righteous Will Path or the Unicorn Divine Art.
"Then it's simple. The problem is the gap, so all you need to do is close that gap. Raise your realm. Once you reach the Transformation Realm, you'll undergo body reconstruction, and your body will change to adapt to that immense power. You'll likely obtain a physique far stronger than that of an ordinary Transformation Realm martial artist. I'm not entirely familiar with the Extreme Yang Body, but it's almost certain."
Easy for him to say. The Transformation Realm wasn't some dog's name. Even Cheon Hayeon had yet to cross that wall. It was a realm bestowed by the heavens, and even with my Martial Soul and every possible system bonus, it was still far out of reach.
"...The thing in my middle dantian is called the Fire Demon Core. It contains both demonic and fire energy. What should I do about that?"
That aside, I asked about the main reason I'd come here.
"I don't know."
"Pardon?"
"That's not my area of expertise. Go see the Demon Doctor."
"The Demon Doctor... Are you referring to the Life-Death Demon Doctor?"
"That's right. I'll speak to him in advance. As for entering the Divine Cult, handle that yourself."
"That... shouldn't be a problem."
Since I'd already received an invitation from Cheon Hayeon, I had been planning to visit the Divine Cult during summer break anyway. Who would have thought an additional reason would come up like this.
"You may leave now. I'm sorry I couldn't be of greater help."
"Not at all. You've been an enormous help."
"Good. I wish you luck in your martial path."
After offering a cupped-fist salute, I paused on my way out as something suddenly occurred to me.
"I'd appreciate it if you could keep my physical condition a secret from Cadet Han Yeoreum."
The Divine Doctor, who had been staring at me quietly, spoke.
"This old man is a doctor."
That answer was enough. Without hesitation, I stepped out of the examination room.